Between Kingdoms
by roseperpetual
Summary: Caspian laughs. "Edmund, you're being unfair to yourself. I hope to be half the king you are someday."


Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: So it's been a while since I've written one of these. I guess the new movie inspired me? Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Let me know if there are any mistakes that I need to correct.

**Between Kingdoms**

i.**  
**

"Tell me about England," says Caspian, eyes alight with curiosity. Edmund had been in Narnia for a mere handful of days and already his memories began to blur. His memories of Narnia stood in sharp contrast, well defined and full of light. England is nothing compared to Narnia. Edmund only remembers it because he was there recently. Eustace rambling on about the British Consulate did not do much to spur memories left behind.

"Why would you want to know about England?" wonders Edmund, although he understands the curiosity about a foreign world. He knows that Caspian has wondered what happened to the Telmarines that had chosen to embrace a new life in his world. To Edmund, England could never compare to Narnia.

ii.

England was rations, wars, and dreary-grey skies, the land of bomb raids and perpetual rain. It was Uncle Harold and Aunt Alberta's stifling house and being told you were a boy when you were really a man.

"I am a king! Not a boy-" started Edmund during a rare moment of frustration, his voice tapering off into the dust.

"But you are a boy," said Lucy matter-of-factly. Edmund had seen her glance wistfully into mirrors, imitating the airs of women who were once her age. He had watched her begin to charge into some sort of battle before remembering who she was. They were in a sort of perpetual limbo. At least Peter and Susan had grown up again. Edmund was sick of not being taken seriously. Why couldn't he fight in the war? He had led a thousand troops into battle, and his age left him unworthy of being a soldier in this world.

iii.

Caspian tells Edmund about the first few years of his rule; they were filled with battles and regaining the loyalty of the Narnian people.

"It was difficult to explain how I could be a Telmarine and their rightful king," Caspian laughs. "At least you had siblings to help you."

"At least you didn't have to seek forgiveness for being a traitor," says Edmund wryly, a smile escaping in spite of him. "'Hello, I'm King Edmund. I once betrayed you all to the White Witch and eternal winter, but everything was right in the end.'"

"Well, if you said it like that, I'm shocked that anyone believed you. It seems like a bad joke." Both boy-kings dissolve into silent laughter, and Edmund can't believe that he managed to laugh over such a sensitive subject.

iv.

He had always thought "Just" was an ironic title for the king who had been a traitor. Of course, he'd take it over something like "Edmund the Treasonous", but any just king would punish one who had been as traitorous as he.

Perhaps the others loved Narnia more because they hadn't failed a test. Perhaps Edmund loved it more because the others hadn't been tested. Then again, they never needed to be tested. Lucy's love was as pure as sunlight, while Edmund's needed to wait for the snow to melt.

Edmund couldn't explain to Caspian how he often felt like an outsider amongst his siblings in his own kingdom. However, he knew that even with magnificence, gentleness, and valiance, Narnia would fall apart without justice.

v.

"You're a brilliant king, you know," says Caspian, his voice muffled against the silence of the ship.

"Not a magnificent one," says Edmund before he can stop himself.

Caspian laughs. "Edmund, you're being unfair to yourself. I hope to be half the king you are someday."

vi.

Edmund did not understand why Caspian wished to see his world so badly. It wasn't full of exciting things like torches and theater performances. He couldn't explain the prevailing sense of gloom that had come over England during the recent war, and he couldn't begin to explain the shock of being powerless when once you could move armies. Eustace, with his constant complaints about England's superiority, was not helping. England was bland and dreary compared to Narnia's soaring beauty.

Peter had had the worst of it- at least Edmund hadn't gone from the lofty High King to a schoolboy. Perhaps Caspian had known nothing else besides kingship and looming kingship; perhaps he wondered what anonymity was like. It was Edmund's curse to have experienced both. It was Caspian's burden to have known only one.

vii.

Two kings fence upon the ship's bow with gleaming swords from an age long past. The clang of steel rings throughout the Dawn Treader as the handful of night crew avidly watches. Even Reepicheep decides against running a commentary, somehow knowing that it is unnecessary. The fight ends in a draw, though neither needs a victory. They need the casual friendship that both find so difficult in their separate worlds. As equals, they embrace.

Edmund knows that for now, this is enough.


End file.
